Wilted Rose
by Minatu-chan
Summary: What happens to Ismene and Creon after the events of during Antigone? Was their story just not as important?


**English class... I thought it was good. Umm... I have to give credit to the people who idea-d this up though, classmates. They know who they are. **

**_Disclaimer_- I am not old enough to have lived in Ancient Greece, so I most definitely do not own the Oedipus Rex trilogy.  
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**ONWARD!  
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For fifteen years after Antigone's death, Creon had suffered the life of a king. The death of his wife and son had shattered his heart. He felt there was no longer happiness in the world for him to have. He wished ever so desperately for the gods to grant him his ability to die, but they would not have it. His suffering would not come to an end.

Ismene could not stand the man even a year after her sister's death. He had taken everything from her. She no longer had a family, no one that she accepted to be of such relations to her at least. She left in a broken rage, screaming words of hate at the king. Creon, left behind by all that he knew, slowly wilted and finally left the throne, naming his advisor the heir. He wandered aimlessly about the streets of Thebes, dressed in the clothes of a mere beggar. Such was fit for the crimes that he had committed.

Ismene, having run to the outskirts of Thebes, had a daughter. This daughter she named Pandora. Pandora was brought up without any knowledge of who was of relation to her mother, in fact she thought that all were dead on her mother's side.

Upon Creon's disappearance into the life of a beggar, he was declared dead to all of Thebes. Whispers of such news traveled across the land and reached Ismene. The delighted woman took her daughter to Thebes to show Pandora of her homeland. Creon, despite all his mistakes, had become a fine ruler by his untimely death. The advisor he left to rule was knowledgeable and a good ruler, as was hoped, thus Thebes was still in the condition that Ismene remembered it to be.

Pandora, in all her excitement, visited the oracle of Thebes. An atrocious thing was told to her there. The irrevocable fate, one that Oedipus himself could never bear. She was going to fall in love, and quite possibly marry, someone of close relations to her. Pandora left in a great fury, how impossible such a thing was! Ismene was her only living relative, and she was not going to marry her mother. That was just ridiculous.

As she stormed home, the young Pandora came across an old beggar. The man hobbled along, muttering of his woes. Pandora wondered, quite curiously what the old man was speaking of. He wasn't an ugly old man or anything of the sort. He was quite handsome, much to her surprise.

"Oh, beggar. What are these woes you speak so fondly of? Could you spare a morsel to a tiny mouse?" Pandora asked, approaching the man heedlessly. She had no fear of strangers. This, Ismene always found to be ridiculous. She believed Pandora to be looking for trouble in this way.

"Ah, child," the beggar said in a kindly manner. He was shocked to find that such a beautiful child had come to speak to him, "My woes are those that are well known to all. Even you, little mouse, would know of them. You are of Thebes, are you not?" Pandora shook her head and continued to speak to the beggar for many an hour. Pandora sympathized with the man and listened to him like no one had in a long time. She made the beggar feel important, and so she continued to visit him.

"Dearest mother! I cannot describe to you how wonderful the blossom of love is in my heart! This man, how dear he is to me! He is like no other, wonderful and divine in every way! Mother, our love blooms and grows in every passing second. I feel tears when he is away, for I love him ever so much!" Pandora cried to her mother. Ismene listened in courteous silence. She was not surprised that her daughter had fallen in love. It was not uncommon.

"Do be careful, my daughter. A snake's bite is also from love," Ismene warned carefully. Pandora disregarded her mother's worries, running off to see the beggar again. She could not bear to be away from him.

Ismene wondered about who this beloved was of Pandora's. So, she followed her daughter upon one of her escapades to visit the man. Much to her disbelief and horror, she found the man to be Creon, the man she had been fighting for too many years to keep her daughter away from. With a cry of terror and pain, she returned home to wonder what she must do to keep the pair apart. How dare that man woo her daughter! He had no right.

Creon spotted the familiar woman as she turned to run. Much to his shock, it was Ismene. He looked to Pandora, who was giggling. Her abyss-like eyes twinkled like they had captured the stars within them.

"My love, that was my dearest mother. She was surprised that we caught her spying upon her," Pandora laughed jovially. Creon touched her soft, rosy cheek. A dark plan had already begun to formulate within his mind. He loved Pandora too much to have her ripped from him by a vengeful creature that was Ismene. She would not keep them apart. Pandora returned home, such happiness and joy cascading through her heart. She smiled to her mother.

"Sweet mother," she began, words tumbling from her rose colored lips, "We saw you sneaking about the lover's grove. Has your boundless curiosity been sated by my love? He is fitting of me, is he not?" Ismene stared out the window at the garden outside. She sighed softly, worry tyrannizing her heart.

"Dear..." she started softly, "How hard you make it for me to explain what I feel. I am unsure of your beloved, and that is all." Ismene nodded slightly, and Pandora sighed.

"Oh, mother! How fretful you are!" Pandora cried, rushing off to her room. Pandora left early one morning on an errand for her mother. She was upset that her mother was keeping her from visiting Creon as soon as she would like. With a quick pace, she zoomed off to complete the chore as to be able to return to her love as soon as she could. Only to find she had forgotten something.

Creon approached the house upon his beloved's quick exit. He had a mission, one that had to be completed before the return of Pandora. She couldn't know of this travesty. He entered the house with a knife bared in his hand. He murdered the wailing Ismene. She would not keep Pandora and himself apart. He would not allow it.

Pandora entered the house heedlessly, only to have her eyes fall upon a heart shattering scene. How true her mother's warning had been, and now Ismene had been killed by Pandora's own love! Pandora screamed in horror.

"What beast are you? And where is my beloved, the one who cared so much for me! What creature from Hades has be sent to me?" she cried in anguish.

"My dearest Pandora! I am sorry. I could do nothing else! She wanted to keep us apart!" Creon reasoned in his defense, taking Pandora's hands in his bloodied ones. Pandora wailed, tearing herself away from Creon.

"No! You are the ruiner of us! The wedge in all romance! I deny you! Our wilted love... You have taken everything from me!" she screamed. Rage pillaged Creon's veins, and he plunged the knife into Pandora, ripping it from her flesh only to bury it within her again. As his rage died, his eyes went wide with horror. A glassy effect took over the dark orbs. What had he done?

"My dearest blossom! No!" he wailed, caressing her mutilated body in his arms. Tears tumbled down his cheeks as he wept for his loss. He cradled her to his chest as her body grew cold, and he lost her.

The gods gazed down at the house in Thebes, laughing and enjoying the immaculate show that had played out before them. How costly Aphrodite's caress could be.

**I hope you enjoyed this~**

**And Please Review!  
**

**~Minatu-chan  
**


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